FAYETTEVILLE -- Arkansas junior pitchers Dominic Taccolini and James Teague, high school pitcher signees Tyler Benninghoff, Blake Lillis and Brenden Heiss, and junior college pitcher signee Trevor Stephan were picked Saturday in the Major League Baseball first-year player draft.
Carson Shaddy and outfielder Luke Bonfield -- the Razorbacks' top two hitters this season with batting averages of .332 and .304 and both draft-eligible as sophomores -- weren't picked.
The only position player with remaining eligibility Arkansas figures to lose from this season's team is junior Clark Eagan, who played first base, third base and center field and was a ninth-round pick by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
Taccolini, the Razorbacks' No. 1 SEC starter most of the season, was taken in the 16th round (No. 492 overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was 5-5 with a 5.75 ERA this season in a team-high 72 innings.
The Blue Jays also drafted Arkansas pitcher Zach Jackson in the third round Friday.
Teague, who has been a spot starter and reliever, went in the 37th round (No. 1,111) to the Baltimore Orioles. He was 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA this season.
Benninghoff, a right-hander from Overland Park, Kan., and the younger brother of Razorbacks outfielder Jack Benninghoff, was an 11th-round pick (No. 333) by the Minnesota Twins.
Stephan, a right-hander from Hill (Texas) Junior College, was taken in the 18th round by the Boston Red Sox (No. 538).
Lillis, a left-hander from Overland Park, was taken in the 25th round (No. 741) by the Milwaukee Brewers.
Heiss, a right-hander from the Chicago suburb of Algonquin, Ill., who played at Jacobs High School, was a 31st-round pick (No. 944) by his hometown Cubs. Earlier in the week, he worked out for the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Arkansas signee Jordan McFarland, an outfielder from Waterloo, Iowa, was taken in the 36th round (No. 1,084) by the Washington Nationals.
Arkansas seniors Michael Bernal and Doug Willey were drafted. Bernal, a shortstop, was a 29th-round pick by the San Francisco Giants (No. 875). Willey, a relief pitcher, was a 32nd-round pick (No. 966) by the Los Angeles Angels.
The Kansas City Royals drafted Dillon Drabble, a right-handed pitcher from Texarkana who played at Seminole (Okla.) State College, in the 17th round (No. 523).
Ouachita Baptist pitcher Connor Eller, a senior right-hander from Sylvan Hills, was drafted in the 22nd round (No. 672) by Toronto.
Two players from Bentonville -- Luke Bandy and Trenton Hill -- were drafted.
Bandy, an outfielder who played at Providence Academy in Rogers and signed with Dallas Baptist, was taken in the 32nd round (No. 973) by the Kansas City Royals. Hill, a senior left-handed pitcher at Lee University in Cleveland, Tenn., was a 34th-round pick (No. 1,013) by the Miami Marlins.
Arkansas high school signees likely to sign professionally because of hefty projected bonuses for their draft slots are catcher Ben Rortvedt (second round at No. 56 to the Twins) and infielder Cole Stobbe (third round at No. 78 to the Philadelphia Phillies).
Sports on 06/12/2016